Paladin

Issue date: 10/9/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Matt Robinson A gas pipe was inadvertently ruptured Tuesday, Sept. 30 that caused classes to be evacuated. [Click to enlarge]

On Tuesday Sept. 30 at 4 p.m., students and faculty were forced to evacuate buildings R, Q, V and W due to a supposed high pressure gas line break at the LAC's South Quad Complex, which is currently under construction.

Bond Management Team workers who were on the construction site, were unable to comment about how and why the gas leak occurred. LBCC police, the Long Beach Fire Department and Long Beach Gas and Oil, all on site during the incident, were not accessible for comment.

Although Lieutenant Julie Prior of the LBCC police later said in an e-mail, "We responded to assist Fire who was responding to a gas leak. It occurred while the construction crew was digging."

John Fylpaa, Dean of the School of Physical Education and Athletics, received a call from Mike Collins, Director of Risk Services, after the gas odor started permeating through the air. He responded by putting to use the training he received regarding emergency response.

"We implemented the plan by evacuating the Q and R buildings. That included checking all rooms, removing individuals, and taking them to a designated safe area. Once it was determined that the repair would take some time, and be precautionary, classes were cancelled in the Q, R and W buildings for the evening and signs were posted accordingly," Fylpaa said.

The gas leak was the first incident Fylpaa has had to deal with since construction started on the South Quad Complex.

While standing between a few of the W trailers, Computer Science professor James Mackowiak said he was told to evacuate by a different source. "Construction workers came in and said we would have to evacuate all of the W's," Mackowiak said.

Information provided by Robert Garcia, Director of Public and Media Relations at LBCC, says the leak was caused by a high-pressure gas line break. After receiving calls about the strong odor, Garcia said LBCC immediately contacted the Long Beach Fire Department. After realizing that the leak could not be shut off from their point of connection, Long Beach Gas and Oil was called in around 4:15 p.m.

Continued...

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